Page 11 - HCMA Bulletin Spring 2022

Editor’s Page (continued)
So, he gave me a tutorial on how to think like a squirrel and about their behavior. I inserted chicken wire and have been tak- ing it out and reinserting it after giving him/her/it a chance to leave the chimney, while his companion keeps returning to the pool enclosure. That’s why I was sitting outside observing for an hour today. No exiting squirrel.
When we still heard the trapped squirrel, it was time to call the pros. I looked online and decided on World Class Wildlife Rodent Removal & Remediation. Susan answered the phone, no menu to choose from, and set up an appointment with Dalton two days later. He showed up, on time, and did an evaluation; he even saw the critter in the attic. He explained how to use the trap I had to try to catch him/her/it, while they were doing their “exclusion” to make the rest of the soffit screens impenetrable. Within a few days, Matt, Ryan, and Derek had completed the “exclusion.” I had not heard noises for 4-5 days before and sus- pected something might have happened to him/her/it, since I had not trapped it either. Sure enough, before leaving, Ryan checked the attic, and found the critter, most of it hidden under the insulation, none of it moving. He bagged and removed it, sanitized the attic, and the squirrel saga was now over.
So, I’m just proposing to you, in a bizarre, indirect way, to think about how you provide customer service to your patients: don’t be like some handymen. And if you have squirrels in the attic, call WCWRRR. Great customer service--the old-fash- ioned way.
Things that make you go, “Hmmm.”
What’s the heaviest “drinker” in the animal kingdom? Not us, despite COVID, by a long shot. It’s the hamster. They can guzzle the equivalent of 1.5 liters of 190-proof Everclear and not even get “drunk.” Nor do they wobble and fall, never av- eraging above 0.5 on the zero-to-four “wobble” scale. They prefer hard spirits to water, probably because they hoard rye- grass seeds and fruit in their burrows and eat the stockpile as it ferments and becomes more alcoholic over the winter. —The Week.
A hockey fan of the Seattle Kraken, Nadia Popovici, was sitting in her seat behind the visiting Vancouver Canucks bench when she spotted a suspicious lesion on the Canuck’s equipment manager’s neck. She put a message on her cell- phone, and he was able to see it. The lesion was indeed a malignant melanoma. She has received accolades from the entire NHL as well as a $10,000 check to help further her medical education as she chooses one of the medical schools to attend that she was accepted to. —The Week.
Letters to the Editor can be submitted to:
David Lubin, MD Dajalu@aol.com
HCMA BULLETIN, Vol 67, No. 4 – Spring 2022 11